Shaft lubricating and sealing means



Jan. 27, 1942.

J. l.. L. A. A. MOULE-r SHAFT LUBRICAT'ING AND SEALING MEANS f v2,271,303 E Filed May 17, 1940 .N www Jenn Le@ 55 L'Qon Aexqhhg Nbed" oder l lNvENTQE Patented Jan. 27, 1942 s PATENT OFFICE SHAFT LUBRICATING AND SEALING MEANS Jean Louis Lon Alexandre Albert Moulet, Paris, France, assignor to Martin Moulet Cie, Oullins, Rhone, France, a company of France Application May 17, 1940,. Serial N0. 335,711

In France June 6, 1939 (Cl. 30s-36.2)

terior, by means of the interstitial play, along the bearing portions of the movable shaft. 'Ihese conditions are attended with the double drawback of risks of leakage and of seizing.

The present invention has for its object a device providing at the same time for the lubrication and the fluid-tightness of the bearing sur faces of a shaft or like rotatable part. The said device is chiefly characterized -by the fact that it comprises an expansible packing piece which is so arranged as to automatically permit the lintroduction of the lubricant by the effect of the pressure of lniection of the said lubricant, and that it ensures the fluid-tightness by returning to its seating by the effect of its own expansion, and possibly by the effect of the pressure which prevails in the machine and may be imparted to the lubricant.

The said expansible packing piece is preferably completed by a second packing piece which is applied in an elastic manner upon the rotatable part and forms a second stage of fluid-tightness, thus preventing all leakage of lubricant, 'either by the effect of the pressure prevailing in the casing, or by the effect of the excess pressure during the injection of the lubricant.

By the effect of these two stages of fluid-tightness, the packing which would be provided be-y tween the fluid under pressure and the exterior, is replaced by a packing between the lubricant (a liquid of great viscosity) and the exterior, and thusthe device has a great efllcacity.

The invention further relates to pumps, compressors and like apparatus comprising one or more shafts or other rotatable parts provided with lubricating and fluid-tight devices comprising one or more of the above-menti ed features.

In the accompanyingr drawing, which is given solely by way of example:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of a handoperated pump of the semi-rotary type, having plates provided with a device for lubrication and fluid-tightness according to the invention, shown in the normal closed position.

Fig. 2 is a partial section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

`In the present embodiment, the shaft I carrying for instance a rotor with plates 2 or the like, contained in a casing 3, is mounted in the known manner in bearings l and 5. It is pierced with a channel 6 which is preferably axial. whose ends are closed up, but which communicates with the various friction surfaces through radial orifices such as l. 8 and t, provided in suflicient number. The orifices! are extended for instance by grooves la formed in the rotor I. h y

A radial orifice I0 serves for the' admission of the lubricant, and* it makes connection between the channel 6 and a chamber II situated at the exterior of the shaft I. The said chamber Il is formed by an expansible sleeve or diaphragm I2 which contains a spring I3 and is closed at each end by annular discs I4 and I5. The disc Il is mounted on a shoulder of the bearing 4. The disc I5 is applied by ahspring Ilagainst an annular 'member I6 which is mounted on the shaft 1. A certain play is provided between the disc I5 and the shaft I.

The expansible diaphragm I2 is situated in ay chamber I1 which is formed in the body of the bearing l. In this chamber I1, a socket I8 is slldable, after the manner of Aa piston, between a spring I9 which bears upon the end of the chamber Il,l and a flexible packing piece 20 which may consist of pressed leather and is in contact with a shoulder on the rotatable member Il which is mounted on the shaft'.

The chamber I1 communicates with the exterior through a conduit 2| which is adapted to receive a lubricating plug of the known type or a suitable tube for the injection of lubricant, andl in this case the said conduit is closed, except during the time of injection of the lubricant, by a plug 22 or the like. The injection conduit maybe provided with a valve which opens from the outside to the inside of the chamber Il.

The operation is a follows. When the conduit 2i shown in Fig. 1 is connectedwith a pipe for the supply of lubricant under pressure, this lubricant will flow in the chamber I1, exerting a certain pressure upon its walls. Owing to this pressure, the slidable socket I8 which is also .driven in the same direction by the expansion of the spring I9, will apply with an increased force,

against the annular shoulder I E, the pressed packing piece 2li, which thus prevents all leakage of the lubricant. Moreover, owing to the effect of the pressure of the lubricant, the elastic diaphragm I2 will contract, thus compressing the spring I3.

When the annular disc I5 has receded from the member IB, the lubricant will ilow around the shaft I, will enter into the channel 8 and will then be distributed upon the various friction surfaces of the said shaft I and of the bearings I and 5, through the transverse oriiices "I, I and l. In this way, the lubrication of these friction parts is assured.

When the lubricant ceases to be admitted through the conduit 2l, the pressure will no longer be exerted upon the walls of the chamber I'I nor upon the elastic diaphragm I2, and this latter, owing to the expansion of the spring I3, will expand, and the annular disc I5 will be applied upon the member I6 on the shaft I, thus preventing all leakage to the exterior, either of the injected lubricant or of the fluid contained in the chamber 3.

In these conditions, the huid-tightness is well assured.

It will be noted that the injected lubricant,- which is usually a viscous liquid, is contained between two adjacent parts (I5, I8) and (2l, II), thus forming a hydraulic packing of great emcacity between the fluid contained in the easing and the exterior, while the pressure of this duid tends to apply the adjacent surfaces upon on another.

If in any case the .part Il, Il should become damaged, the fluid contained in the casing, which may be a gas or a liquid of low viscosity, can escape to the exterior only after it has obliged the lubricant in the chamber I1 to escape to the exterior. However this lubricant has a great viscosity, and it can be readily maintained by the flexible packing piece 20, and especially since this piece is subjected to the pressure of the fluid, which pressure is transmitted by the lubricant. 'Ihus the present device will afford the best fluidtight conditions.

Obviously, the invention is not limited to the embodiment herein described and represented,

which is given solely by way of example.

A given shaft or rotatable part may beprovided with several devices of the aforesaid type. A mechanism may comprise several shafts having such devices.

The invention may be applied to any mechanism comprising a shaft which passes through the wall of a casing containing a fluid which is optionally under pressure.

`Having now described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A lubricating and fluid-tight device for shafts and rotatable elements comprising in combination a stationary member provided with a cylindrical bore in which said rotatable element is adapted to be rotatably supported, an annular member secured to and rotatable with said element, one of said members being provided with an inner cylindrical surface extending to close proximity of the other member so as to form about said element an annular hollow space and one. of said members being provided with a bearing surface at right angles to the axis of said element, spring pressed packing means applied on both sides of the joint between the adjacent l vided on said stationary member and adapted to parts of said cylindrical surface of one member and said other member, connecting means proconnect said hollow space with lubricant supplying means, an axially collapsible and extensible container disposed about said element in said .icllow space and provided with an end face adapted to bear in a fluid-tight manner on said bearing surface provided on said one member and secured in a duid-tight manner to the other of said members, said container being adapted to collapse and to bring said end face away from `said bearing surface when subjected to a compressed fluid on its outer side and to expand and to bring said end face against said bearing surface when subjected to a compressed fluid on its inner side, and spring means urging said end face against said bearing surface. whereby 1ubricant may be introduced in said container when pressure is exerted on the lubricant in said connecting means and may be retained in a fluid tight manner in said container when no pressure is exerted on said lubricant in said connecting means.

2. A lubricating and fluid-tight device according to claim l. in which said spring pressed pack- -ing means comprises a ring slidable on said cylindrical surface of one member and spring means urging said ring against the other member.

3. A lubricating and fluid-tight device for shafts and rotatable elements comprising in combination a stationary member provided with a cylindrical bore in which said rotatable element is adapted to be rotatably supported, an annular member secured to and rotatable` with said element, one of said members being provided with an inner cylindrical surface extending to close proximity of the other member so'as to form about said element an annular hollow space and one of said members being provided with a bearing surface at right angles to the axis of said element, packing means disposed within said hollow space and adapted to be applied to the joint between the adjacent parts of the cylindrical surface of one member and said other member by the pressure of a lubricant fluid in said hollow space, connecting means on said stationary member to connect said hollow space with lubricant supplying means, an axially collapsible and extensible container disposed about said element in said hollow space and provided with an end face adapted to bear in a fluid-tight manner on said bearing surface provided on said one member and secured in a fluid-tight manner to the other of said members, said container being adapted to collapse and to bring said end face away from said bearing surface when subjected to a compressed fluid on its outer side and to expand and to bring said end face against said bearing surface when subjected to a compressed fluid on its inner side, and spring means urging said end face against said bearing surface, where- 

